Chapter Text
Everything was a void. The endless sky, the flapping of an injured bird’s wings, the beating of dying hearts, the irritating bristle of wind flowing through tattered sheets of cloth and fiber.
The blur of the world remained to focus and unfocus as Ichiji attempted to take in the damaged and incinerated setting that he had been staring at for far too long. The throbbing in his head and fingers and ears were far too loud for his liking but it didn’t stop him from trying his best to see through the void that the world had become. His body remained limp, bloody and torn, hanging off of a spear while his feet attempted to reach the floor. The redhead’s chest was penetrated completely, leaving his vulnerable insides sore and open to the world to see. Ichiji could feel his muscles twitch, aching for comfort and any feeling of whatever normalcy still remained in his life.
The mission had been simple.
Germa was to be the aid to some no-name village to protect them from some no-name pirates who were apparently threatening the village of their treasures and lives. Reiju had been assigned a separate mission prior to this one, so it was up to the brothers to carry out the assignment instead. Germa had no real care for protecting anyone, however, the price the village had paid them was high enough and the Vinsmokes weren’t ones to say no to money, either.
And so the boys were sent early the next morning to protect the useless village from the pirate raid. The travel had been quiet and uneventful, as was their arrival. When the brothers had entered the village, the chief had told them of the dangers of an artifact called, “The Hearth’s End”, that the enemy Pirates were predicted to have. Ichiji had taken a mental note of it, however, had little to no interest in its abilities.
Him and his brothers were more than capable of taking out some weak Pirates—with or without devil fruit powers, magical artifacts, or unique abilities. In the end, all that mattered to Germa was the success of the mission, not how weak or powerful the opposing enemy was (It was, however, a pride booster for them whenever they took down a particularly well known group or nation). The chief then told the brothers that there would probably only be three Pirates arriving— the captain, the first mate, and the second mate. The actual crew consisted of about 10-12 known members with bounties, but they would only be sending 3. Their goal was to ravage this land and steal some other artifact the village had stored away.
After being debriefed, Niji had laughed half-heartedly about how this job should be done be the end of the day, and Yonji had been insulted about the fact the Pirates thought only three could stand against them. The eldest brother couldn’t care less about either of the matters, his only thought was what he would do once he returned home.
In summarization, Germa had been falling apart as of lately. The boys’ father, as genius as he was, had been lacking in leadership since the incident with... well, Sanji. The failure had saved them, oddly enough, and since then it seems Judge had been unorganized, distressed, and making brash decisions that tended to harm Germa more then help it. Ichiji had realized this and has recently thought of how fitting it would be if he were to become king of Germa soon enough. Thinking back to their defeat from the Big Mom Pirates, the eldest brother had begun to see weakness in his father’s ideals. Tiny cracks and holes spreading throughout the man’s intelligence had been more and more apparent as he realized the faults and consequences of his actions. Reiju had mentioned in passing that their father did not seem to know everything that he thought he did. And as of the past few weeks, Ichiji had begun to think she was right.
So now here he sat, in an unknown village waiting for some unknown Pirates, plotting the demise of his father’s era and how to bring about a new one. An era that spelt out “Ichiji Vinsmoke”.
His imagining and planning had been rudely interrupted by Yonji excitedly shaking his arm and Niji shouting them over from the gigantic rock that was sitting on. The blue haired brother announcing that he had spotted three figures on the shoreline of the island. The villagers had begun to uproar in panic and fled to their homes and shelters.
As both parties— three Pirates and three assassins— approached one another, the red headed brother took notice of the enemies’ odd appearances and entrance. They had arrived on a small sailboat, with a noticeable Jolly Roger painted onto its sail and almost nothing but on barrel on the boat. The captain, as Ichiji assumed, was in the middle, walking slowly but snidely, and had a noticeable glow on a necklace around his neck. It must have been that artifact that the chief had warned the brothers about, but as mentioned previously, the Vinsmokes didn’t care about fancy magic of the sort.
From there, things get a little fuzzy. Ichiji had clashed with the captain, his brothers both taking on the other two following afterwards. The captain was surprisingly spry, and had a good amount of fighting experiences in his style. Each time Ichiji moved to make a special attack, the man was quick to stop or deflect him so that the Vinsmoke couldn’t do anything that he wanted to do. The two battled in mainly hand to hand combat for a while, pushing and pulling closer and closer into the center of town.
At some point, Ichiji had noticed that both of his brothers were now fighting only one of the enemies, confused as to where the other pirate, a young female, had gone. As he fought the captain, his eyes searched the perimeter to see if the third enemy was unconscious somewhere but instead was met with the sound of an explosion and the feeling of intense heat rushing over his head and his back. The eldest cursed as he whipped his head around to see the village up in flames. He heard devilish laughter echoing throughout the village as the civilians ran and screamed for safety. The laughter became warped and warbled as people began falling and fainting left and right. This strange occurrence was definitely from the missing third pirate. But wasn’t Yonji fighting her?
Why were they both of his brothers wasting their time fighting one man?
His eyes scanned the perimeter and caught a glimpse at the state his brothers were in. What? They were losing?
Niji had been grabbed by the throat by the enemy and was currently being lifted high in the air. The youngest, on the other hand, was recovering from what looked like a massive blow to his face and trying to get back on his feet. The man they were fighting was absolutely large, standing a good several feet taller than them, and Ichiji saw himself losing to Charlotte Katakuri all over again.
He grit his teeth as he turned to deliver a finishing hit on his current enemy. He needed to end this. However, instead, he was met with a forceful push that had him flying several feet backwards into Yonji and stumbling onto the floor. Niji would join them on the ground not too long after.
Think. Think. Think. The eldest’s eyes caught on to the flow of the necklace and the shine of Niji’s sword. His brain circulating an answer. That’s it. The artifact must be amplifying the Pirates’ abilities somehow. It was then that Ichiji came up with a solution.
“The necklace! Niji, stab the artifact on the necklace!”
And that’s where things went south, fast. Stabbing the necklace had caused some type of reaction that none of the brothers were able to comprehend. Each of them could feel it— as in feel it. Not just simulate a feeling like they would in the pass, but they could feel their wounds ripping open and their anger and sadness and fear pulling through their lungs. Niji was the first to scream and hold his head as electricity zapped through his fingertips. Yonji had backed up and his hand was his cheek where he had been punched and deformed from earlier in the battle. Ichiji felt a searing pain up his sides from where a few missed blows had broken some of his ribs earlier in the fight. What was wrong with their exoskeletons? Why did he feel worried?
No. No no no no no.
Why did he feel?
As the brothers looked up, confused and broken, at the men that towered upon them, there was one last thought before the ravage.
Did we fail?